Our fearless editor Josh is away on vacation, no doubt depleting whatever town will have him of all their bourbon and listening to a fair amount of Waylon Jennings.  That’s how our man rolls, but in the meantime he left me the keys to the kingdom that is Initial Descent!

Which means I get to tell you that the titans of British stoner metal Orange Goblin are back with revolution #9 The Wolf Bites Back, and it’s a raw, chunky blast of hard rock and blissed stoner goodness that will have you quaffing heady ales and adding as much denim as your closet will hold.  Hoth return from a galaxy far, far away to bring their second full length Astral Necromancy, a concept album that, reading between a few lines has me believing this just might pick up with the progeny of the main character from 2014’s Oathbreaker, so if that was your jam you’re probably going to fall for this as well.  Elsewhere Dave Ingram (Ex-Bolt Thrower) and company are back on the third release from Down Among the Dead Men.  The crusty death on …And You Will Obey Me recalls some of the best  old school flavor while pushing past the kids with a deep and brutal modern production.  Finally if I were to pick a little something off the radar to bring to your attention it’s the hazy, occult doom soaked gaze of Frayle, whose debut EP The White Witch eschews stoner mentality and instead infuses its doom roots with a hypnotic vulnerable attack that shows some incredible promise for the future of the genre.  Plus there’s a kickass Portishead cover, so what are you waiting for?  Let’s get into it and let us know in the comments what’s been making your ears go crazy.
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